The kitchen in most people’s house is the heart of the home and, if big enough, where much of the communal activity takes place. The state of the kitchen is very indicative of the well being of the individuals living there. So, this week I wanted to give you 5 quick and easy tips to help you improve the health of your kitchen.

Tip 1. Clear the Decks: As in all my articles about the home, I can’t resist doing my usual and telling you to clear out all the kitchen cupboards and get rid of anything that you haven’t used in the last 12 months. If you have blunt knives, then sharpen them. If you need more plates or glasses, then get them. If the walls look tired, then give them a lick of paint. Clean out the drawers and do whatever you need to make the kitchen sparkling clean. Then keep it that way, at all times. Imagine Gordon Ramsey is inspecting the state of your kitchen. What would he say about it? If you are cooking food it needs to be in an extremely hygienic environment and clearing out and cleaning is the first step to giving your kitchen a new lease of life.

Tip 2. Under The Sink: If you were to take all the cleaning products that you have under your sink and poured the liquid from every one of them in to a bucket, (i.e. surface cleaners, floor cleaners, wood cleaners, window cleaners, silver cleaners, bathroom and kitchen cleaners,) you will find that a huge amount of poisonous chemicals would be collected in to that one container. (i.e. ammonia, formaldehyde, xylene, bleach etc) Many of these products are extremely toxic, they are dangerous to inhale or get on your skin, never mind poisonous to swallow. There are so many ecological products on the market that surely it makes much more sense to replace the toxic ones with ones that are much safer to have in your house. They might vary in price slightly, but it is definitely worth limiting the amount of poison that you keep under your sink and, if you want to keep it cheap, you can always use products like baking soda, Borax, white vinegar and cornstarch.